Monday, 29 August 2011

So these are my first couple of swatches from my new Models Own polishes, I thought I'd start with some pastel cremes. Please excuse my gnarly cuticles, I've neglected the Lemony Flutter over the past few days :(

Beth's Blue one of those shades that really suits anyone. It's possibly a one (thick) coat polish, but if you're like me and have big nails and tend to paint the first layer on a little messy (no matter how hard you try) you might need two to even out the coverage. These pictures are two coats + top coat.

Pastel Pink is the same as far as application goes. I love creme polishes but they're probably my least favourite to apply, I always struggle to get even coverage.

I love both of these although I'm not sure they suit my skin tone (I have quite olive skin) I don't care though, I won't be kept away from my pastels! :P

Friday, 26 August 2011

I'm trying to squeeze in as many summer manis as I can before Autumn/Winter, but knowing me I'll end up wearing bright nails all through them anyway.

For this I used Models Own - Top Turquoise and Rimmel Lasting Finish Fruities - Strawberry Fizz, both easy to apply cremes. The latter is a scented polish and smells lovely, though the smell wears off after a day.

For the Cherry Bossom design I used a dotting tool, Barry M - Matte White, and a no-brand black.

Thursday, 25 August 2011

I've had this bottle of polish for about 4-5 years, and it's still exactly the same consistency as when I bought it. It's almost impossible to photograph though, no matter where I went to try and take a picture, nothing came out looking exactly like the polish. I finally got some which are 98% accurate.

It's very sheer but goes on really nicely. This is two coats, and there's still some VNL, so you'd probably need three or maybe four. It has a glossy jelly finish.

It's quite yellowy for a Lime Green and probably not everyone's cup of tea, but I like it. The brighter the better!

Tuesday, 23 August 2011

Revlon Slipper is a glitter top coat consisting of red and silver glitter and little holo hexagonals. I believe it was made to be used with Revlon's Ruby polish (Ruby...Slipper...) but I don't have that, so out came the Barry M Shocking Pink.

Barry M Shocking Pink is a nice bright creme, opaque in two coats (you may get away with one coat if you load the brush enough). I added a matte topcoat because I love mattified glitters.

Close up of Slipper. I really like it, it adds a subtle bit (or a not-so-subtle bit, depending on how much you slap on) of sparkle when a plain colour isn't enough.

Also, I have a massive Model's Own haul on the way! Makes up for having lost my favourite clean-up brush. :(

Saturday, 20 August 2011

I'd heard Dusky Mauve by Barry M was a dupe of Chanel's Paradoxal (I am yet to own a Chanel polish but the day will inevitably come) and it really is. These pictures don't do the colour justice at all because they were taken indoors, and you really need to be in the sunlight to get the full extent of the shimmery purple and blue (you can see it better in the picture of the bottle above).

Thursday, 18 August 2011

I got a new Konad plate and wanted to try it out, this being the result. The black Konad Special Polish seems to work much better than the white, had no problems picking up the image this time. The only thing was I smudged the design a little, probably because I used a cheap top coat.

Sunday, 14 August 2011

This is the first time I have done a semi-successful Konad mani. I bought a plate a few months ago and struggled with it, my stamp never wants to pick up the images, even after I've filed it down a bit. I decided to sit down and keep trying and finally got somewhere...kind of.

I used OPI A-Rose At Dawn...Broke By Noon, which is a nice pearly pink, but a bit of a pain to get on as even after my best efforts it left brush strokes. For the stamping I used a no-name black creme (which did not work well) and white Konad special polish. The plate is m3.

I decided to start a blog for all my nail stuff, since Tumblr is kinda messy and my personal Tumblr is full of all kinds of rubbish. I know the name of this blog is a total fail, but I sat for ages and couldn't come up with a thing, so I resorted to very simple measures. I'm relatively new to all this and still practicing! I'll be posting nail art and swatches and generally rambling about nail polish. :)